Lawn and Landscaping

NWA Native Flowers

I honestly did not know that the yucca was native to NWA. That could in part be that I didn’t know it’s real name was Yucca Arkansana, or it could just because I don’t really care for them. Maybe knowing that this cactus, succulent actually belongs here will help me like them a little bit more.

The Smallest Yucca

The Yucca arkansana is the smallest of the yucca family aparacarceae. It only grows in Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas. Out of the 40 species in its family the arkansana is truly tiny especially compared to the monstrous Joshua Trees of California that can grow 40 feet tall. The arkansana on the other hand only grows stalks up to about 30 inches tall.

What it Looks Like

The tall stalks that boast the gorgeous white flowers grow out of a base of blue green leaves with sharp tips (be careful this is part of the reason I don’t like them, the tips are very dangerous). The flowers have 3 whitish green petals and 3 sepals on each flower. Sepals are found under the bloom, they protect the bud as it grows and later provide support for the flower once it blooms (on a rose the sepal would be the green section between the stem and petals). The yucca stalk can have many blooms all the up it, the flowers are gorgeous when they bloom between April and June.

Where it Likes to Grow

Like most yucca this one likes to grow in rocky well drained soil. It can be found on rocky hillsides or dry prairies. It likes full or partial sun but may grow in the shade too. Soil content is not really a big factor for the yucca.

The yucca arkansana’s indifference to where it grows makes it great to landscape with. It’s roots are great at stabilizing rocky slopes where erosion is an issue. Being a perennial and an evergreen are also big marks in it’s favor. The arkansana will thrive in the coldest weather it’s native environment can throw at it, as long as it is in well drained soil so that the roots stay dry. It will stay in place forever to provide a stabilizing force where it is needed. This plant is nearly impossible to kill.

How it Reproduces

Fallen seeds will germinate themselves when temperatures reach between 60 and 70 degrees. It will also reproduce with rhizomes, stem cuttings or by transplanting offsets from the side of an existing mature plant. I am telling you the yucca just keeps coming back it is a very hardy and self sufficient plant.

The Yucca Moth is one of the most amazing things about the yucca family. For millions of years these two species have had a symbiotic relationship. These two species cannot survive without each other. The moth population varies from region to region depending on the yucca population. Without the yucca seeds for the moth larvae to feed on their species would become extinct. In turn the moth is the only insect that can pollinate the yucca.

In the central U.S. the yucca moth is species that pollinates the yucca arkansana is the Tegeticulla yuccasella it only comes out at night. When the female is ready to lay a clutch she collects pollen from the yucca flowers with two short tentacles near her mouth. She rolled the pollen into a ball and sticks it to her head. She takes her ball of pollen to a yucca flower and opens a hole in the flowers ovary and lays her clutch there. She then packs her pollen ball into the flowers stamen and markes the flower with her sent to alert other moths that the flower has been used. This allows the moths to control how many eggs have been laid in each plant so that the plant does not abort the eggs. When the eggs hatch they eat the seeds inside the the yucca plant fruit until the burrow their way out.The scent pheromone the mother laid to alert other moths of her clutch not only keeps the plant from aborting the eggs but also helps control the population of both species. To many moths would eat too many yucca seeds and to many yucca seeds would create too many plants. Nature is an amazing thing.

Uses

American Indians made use of almost every part of their native yucca. The flowers of most yucca are edible raw, boiled and even pickled. The stem of some is also edible and the roots can be used to make soap. I was unable to find anything specific on the uses of the arkasana as far as recipes and such but most sources seem to think that it is no different from most of its cousins along this line.

The Amazing Yucca

A perennial and evergreen with an amazing symbiotic moth relationship in our backyards.

Love or hate them the yucca arkansana that cover the hillside on my property aren’t going anywhere. Even the few that I have tried to remove have spited me by growing more. I think we will add some native grasses to add contrast amongst them and leave them to continue doing their job of keeping the hill intact. We will now also be watching more closely at nighttime for the yucca moths.

Some of our past blog articles have talked about native plants like Butterfly Milkweed. A couple of them have talked about invasive species that are found all over our area and have been here for a very long time like Queen Anne’s Lace. But we haven’t talked about why native plants are important. So why plant native?

Why Natives

Natives as a general rule of thumb are adapted to their environment. This makes them more hardy to their particular climate conditions.

PROS:

Less water

More tolerant to drought (if the area frequently has them)

Provide homes and food for native insects and animals

Don’t require as much fertilizer

Don’t require as many pesticides

Root systems are designed for the area’s geography, stabilizing rocky terrain or river banks for example.

Native plants have also developed to withstand their regions climate like wind and sun.

How Invasive Species Affect the Environment

Invasive plants have not had the time to adapt to their new conditions in some cases. In other situations non-native plants compete with the native plants and even effect the animals and insects.

In a yard that just consists of a grass lawn and all non-native plants on average there maybe about a dozen native insects present.

Yard Scenario 2

In a yard with a grass lawn and all native tree, shrubs and flowers there should be hundreds of mostly all native insects.

Why Insects are Important

It is estimated that 97% of native insects are beneficial. They provide food for birds , bats , fish and other native animals. Spiders and other predatory insects keep fly and mosquito populations under control, along with a horde of other nuisance pests.

Native Plants and Animals Create a Sustainable Ecosystem

Incorporating just 20% – 30% of natives into your homes landscaping will encourage more native insects and birds to take up residency.

A single pair of chickadees need up to 9,000 caterpillars to produce a clutch of eggs.

If we stop planting and encouraging native trees to grow on our property the caterpillars won’t be present for the chickadees to feed on in the quantity they need to breed.

We have turned 54% of the continental U.S. into a mixture of suburban and urban development, another 41% is being used for some sort of agricultural pursuit. This leaves only about 5% undeveloped and still wild. With numbers like that our individual yards and landscaping choices can make a big difference to the environment and ecosystem as a whole.

To be honest I grew up in a family that loved to garden but in reality this doesn’t mean that I know a whole lot about native plants. My family loves plants like elephant ears and banana trees, these are both far from native and are no use to our visiting wild rabbits.

We try now to incorporate as many natives into our personal yard as we can along with companion gardening. But…. the elephant ears and banana tree are both fond childhood memories that I still continue to plant every year. Native or not I feel close to my grandpa ever year when we plant them.

Planting native is a choice that is beginning to give a whole new meaning to the term “Victory Garden”.

Like this:

Asclepias tuberosaor Butterfly Milkweed is a perennial that blooms May through September in zones 4-9. It spends these months attracting and feeding butterflies. Including the gorgeous Queen and Monarch butterflies.

Physical Characteristics

Orange Milkweed is one of 15 milkweed species native to Missouri. It grows 18 to 24 inches tall, with a 24 inch spread. The hairy dark green stems and foliage provide wonderful contrast to the bright orange heads. The vibrant orange flowers also make it stand out against the fields and open rocky areas that it prefers to grow in.

Other Common Names

Butterfly Milkweed

Orange Milkweed

Pleurisy Root

Chigger Flower

This small bush like flower grows a very large tap root. The root makes transplanting this plant very difficult, so it is better to propagate from a seed. The root also gives the plant the name Pleurisy Root. Native Americans chewed the tough root to help with a variety of pulmonary ailments or inflammation of the chest and lungs. This helps with things like bronchitis, allergies and other respiratory problems.

Save the Monarch

Yep I am sure you have heard somewhere by now about this. The Monarch species is diminishing and milkweed may be the cure. So here we go with milkweed and the Monarchs.

Orange Milkweed is most commonly known for attracting hummingbirds and the diminishing Monarch butterfly. It is a plentiful source of nectar for the Monarch. There is a chemical in native milkweed that is thought to be the source of the butterfly’s toxic and bitter tasting properties. Milkweed is also the only plant that Monarchs lay their larvae in. A study done earlier this year in 2016 has seen a ten fold drop in the number of Monarch Butterflies over the past decade. At this rate scientist are estimating a high probability that they could go extinct in the next twenty years. Propagating and promoting the native species of milkweed that attract them and feed their young may very well help bring the Monarch back from their decline for future generations to enjoy.

Daucus carota or Queen Anne’s Lace is a native from Europe and southwest Asia that has been naturalized to North America and Australia. Here in NWA we can find it freely growing in fields and along roadsides from May to October.

Common Names

This plant has many common names wild carrot, bird’s nest and Bishop’s Lace just to name a few. The most common Queen Anne’s Lace comes from a story involving Queen Anne of England pricking her finger and a drop of her blood falling onto the piece of lace she was sewing.

Physical Appearance

Queen Anne’s Lace grows up to 4 feet tall. It has long fern type leaves that can be as long as 8 inches. The stem is topped with a large white flat head created from many tiny blooms that may each have a purple center giving the head an appearance that resembles lace. Once the fruit begins to form the flowers fold inward giving the flower the appearance of a bird’s nest.

Similar Commonly Mistaken For Plants

This plant closely resembles several poisonous plants. If you ever decide to try harvesting Daucus carota for any reason edible or display please have an expert help. Simply coming in contact with some of the plants that resemble it may cause serious physical harm. Some commonly mistaken imitators are:

Poison Hemlock

Water Hemlock

Fool’s Parsley

Ancestor to the Carrot

This biennial ancestor to the domestic carrot lives for 2 years. The first year of it’s life it spends getting bigger and growing a long edible taproot. The root is pale and thin with a woody appearance about as big around as a finger. The root may be used in a tea or soups and stews along with the seeds. The leaves are also edible in the first year and can be used in salad. In the second year the plant has a taste that is to woody tasting for consumption.

The Romans once ate the root as vegetable. The Irish, Hindus and Jews used it as a sweetener. It has the second highest sugar content for a root vegetable, the first being beets.

As A Medicine

It was used as a medicine before it was considered a food. Ancient people used the seedsmedicinally and the leaves as an herb. Today Queen Ann’s Lace is know to be an antihistamine, anti-inflammatory, anti-psychotic, and an anti-oxidant. Researchers are working on using it to help with Alzheimer’s, Crohn’s, Parkinson’s, Cancer and diabetes.

Invasive Weed

Queen Anne’s Lace provides a great habitat and food source for many insects and animals. As well as being great to use in companion gardening for boosting tomato production and keeping lettuce cooler. All of that being said the USDA has declared it a noxious weed that competes too much with true native plants.

For now we will continue to see Queen Anne’s Lace in Northwest Arkansas. It will continue to provide a food source for insects and a habitat for birds. Even as farmers battle to keep it out of their fields.

Yarrow is a perennial herb that originates from Europe and Asia, but has been naturalized to many other countries including North America. In Northwest Arkansas we often find it growing along roadsides and in open fields.

Yarrow is easy to spot as it stands up to thirty inches tall and has long fern like leaves that can grow to four inches. The head of a Yarrow plant is made up have hundreds of tiny clustered flowers that can grow to four inches in diameter. In NWA the flowers are generally white, although they may be yellow or even pink or purple.

Yellow Yarrow in bloom

Achillea millefolium is the scientific name for this herb of many purposes. It is said that Achilles the Greek warrior used this plant to treat not only himself but also his troops in battle. Yarrow is a bitter, an antipyretic, antimicrobial, hepatic and vulnerary herb. Meaning it is used to promote appetite, reduce fever, stop bleeding,help with inflammation, prevent viruses, and helps heal wounds and the liver. Thats a lot of things for one flower to do.

I could go on about the health benefits of yarrow for pages but I won’t (at least not in this article). Almost the whole plant can be boiled or ground up to make a salve or tincture for some ailment. Just be careful if you are allergic to it, Yarrow is also responsible for a lot of people’s seasonal allergies.

For all of those reasons it has a ton of other common names like bloodwort, carpenter’s weed, knight’s milfoil, noble yarrow, old man’s pepper, nosebleed and staunch grass.

Yarrow is good for more than just your health too. It doesn’t have to have a lot of water or very fertile soil to thrive, so it is great for helping with erosion. Other plants like it too because it attracts pollinators and raises the oil content in other plants which helps them stay more resistant to pests and disease. Plus the whole time it is doing all of that Achillea millefolium is also repairing your damaged soil.Yarrow is a great herb with a million uses from salve to erosion control. This great roadside weed is worthy of Achilles’s name and I love to have it growing in my yard.

Like this:

Echinacea or Purple Coneflower is hardy perennial member of the daisy family that grows in zones 3 to 9. It will grow up to two feet tall with heads four inches across. This gorgeous flower comes in a variety of colors. The original nine species have been cross bred to create a huge variety of hybrids that would look great in any garden. The Purple Coneflower version is generally what we find growing wild along roadsides in NWA.

Echinacea

Echinacea is very hardy withstanding drought, full sun and heat making it a great choice to grow in xeriscapes, meadows, or to use as a border flower. If it is planted in fertile well drained soil with lots of sunlight it will go crazy and produces a ton of brilliant blooms all summer long.

Purple Cone flower

Blooming from June to September Echinacea will attract pollinating bees or beautiful butterflies and birds to your garden. If you can keep the birds away from the seeds until the flowers begin to dry out the seeds will drop and reproduce again for years to come.

Echinacea was used by the Great Plains Indians as a medicinal herb, it is believed to have antibacterial properties. Today it sold as a supplement in many vitamin aisles and can also be found in cough drops. Echinacea has been used to treat anything from the common cold to inflammation and even HPV. A lot of people have even begun taking it help boost their immune systems at the first sign of a cold. Please always consult a doctor before taking any new kind of medication. The Purple Coneflower is a gorgeous plant with many uses that I hope to see more of in the future.

The Scarlet Catchfly isone of my favorite native flowers. Their bright red flowers bring a smile to my face as soon as they start blooming every year. They grow in eastern North America as far north as Canada and all the way down to Florida. In the Northwest Arkansas area the Scarlet Catchfly generally begins blooming as soon as April and can last until almost July.

Growing up to 2 feet tall the sticky stalk of the Catchfly topped with it’s bright red petals with heads measuring from 1”-1 ½ “ stand out in stark contrast against the rocky wooded backdrop of its chosen habitat. The colorful notched petals are very attractive to hummingbirds and butterflies making a wonderful addition to any yard or garden. The slightly hairy and sticky stalk that prey on smaller insects give the Silene Virginica its common name of catchfly. It loves rocky well drained soil and can often be found on rocky outcroppings and shaded hillsides.

Silene Virginica is very hardy and easy to grow. Its ability to attract its own pollinators and drop its own seeds keep it reproducing every year. Unfortunately in some places like Florida and Wisconsin it is becoming endangered. Michigan has the Silene Virginica on its threatened list. Lucky for us in NWA this beautiful wildflower flower is not on any endangered list. Lets help keep it that way for butterflies and hummingbirds in the years to come.